


Neigh8orly Camaraderie

by frankenfreakie



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Blood, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Caliginous-Flushed Vacillation, Doomed Timelines, Explosions, F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Gore, Growing Up Together, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Mutual Pining, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25253047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankenfreakie/pseuds/frankenfreakie
Summary: Sitting together with your girlfriend during the end of the universe. How’d you get here, little boy blue?
Relationships: Nepeta Leijon/Equius Zahhak, Vriska Serket/Equius Zahhak
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Neigh8orly Camaraderie

**Author's Note:**

> HIIIIIIII HERE’S THE FIRST CHAPTER OF A NEIGH8ORS FIC IVE BEEN WORKING ON FOR A LONG ASS TIME!! this isn’t beta read but i tried my best to make sure everything was good, if you see any spelling errors please lemme know! Hope you enjoy!

Little gray and yellow eyes peered out across the way, safely behind the walls and windows of home. Just down the hill, right across the canyon gap, was a brand new hive. He remembers how the drones had been crawling around the canyon for the past week, building it. The boy wondered, what was his new neighbor like? What was their lusus like? The size of the hive is hard to estimate, but it sure does look big.

Equius angled his head higher to peer down into the canyon below, catching a full view of what was most definitely his neighbor’s guardian. A huge spider, the same size as a scuttlebuggy by his estimation. Curiouser and curiouser…

That same curiosity in fact, led the small troll to approach his own guardian with a request.

“Aurthour?” Equius asked, tugging ever so gently at the apron the centaur was wearing. It didn’t rip, which was a miracle. Aurthour turned, stopping his laundry work for a moment to happily attend to his charge. “May I go outside and greet the new neighbor?” At this, Aurthour paused. Surely it couldn’t hurt for the boy to greet his neighbor, there weren’t any other trolls his age out here for him to play with anyway.

A simple nod was the lusii’s reply. Equius grinned, gaps in his smile from missing grub teeth that would soon be replaced. He gave his guardian a gentle ‘thank you’ pat, which would leave an unsightly bruise, but all that mattered to Aurthour was the sentiment behind it. As quick as lightning the boy ran past his lusus in the direction of the door, shouting out behind him;

“Bye, Aurthor! I’ll be careful!”

Aurthor returned to his work, chuckling to himself, and rubbing at the new hand shaped bruise on his leg.

* * *

Knock, Knock, Knock.

_Huh? What was that????????_

Knock, Knock, Knock.

_Was that the door? 8ut I’m 8usy! Ugh._

Knock, Knock-

Vriska yanked the door open, paintbrush still in hand. She was met with a troll about her age, maybe a few months older, glasses much too big for his face, and a big indigo arrow on his t-shirt. He looked bewildered, like he almost expected her not to answer despite his insistent knocking.

“What do _you_ want?” She tried her best to scowl in annoyance, but that's difficult to pull off when you’re only 2 sweeps old. 

“Um…” The boy wrung his hands, eyes darting around briefly before focusing on her. His tone of voice seemed really shy, unsure, like he’d never really verbally interacted with another troll before. It certainly piqued Vriska’s interest.

“I-I wanted to say hello, I’m your neighbor, Equius Zahhak.” He let out a tiny smile, and held out a clammy, loose hand to shake. Vriska raised an eyebrow at Equius, then smiled. She stuck her hand out, spat in it, and shook his. He cringed, and she laughed, and they both withdrew.

“I’m Vriska Serket!” She jabbed the paintbrush at the boy, startling him. “What’s up with your broken glasses?”

He almost seemed to forget for a moment that he was wearing glasses, big thick square ones that made him look like a nerd, held together by tape. He fumbled with them for a second trying to slide them back up his nose.

“I’m really strong, so I break most everything I touch.” He stated simply. 

“Woah!” Vriska grinned, eyes glinting with mischief. “Like, everything? Like if you had clamped down on my hand just then you would’ve crushed it?” 

“Uhm, yes, probably.” 

“Wicked!!!!!!!!” She giggled, flicking the paintbrush around excitedly as she talked, like a conductor who drank far too much caffeine. “I’m not strong like you but check out my eyes!” She brushed her untamed mass of hair aside, revealing her mismatched face. While her left side looked relatively normal, the right side was covered in 7 eyes, giving her 8 in total. She was proud of her mutation, how could she not? It’s badass! Just like a spider!

“Wooaaah…” Equius leaned in closer to look at all of her eyes, three or four were fixed on him while the others darted around, they varied in size, but they all blinked at the same time; it was truly bizarre. The boys attention was then drawn to the open door behind her, he spotted jars of paint and stacks of paper. Vriska noticed this and turned to see what he was looking at before laughing.

“I’m painting me as a pirate, ‘cause that’s what I’m gonna be when I get big, you wanna see?” She offered. Before the boy could answer, she grabbed his wrist and dragged him inside, swinging her paintbrush around like a sword. “You can paint with me! Do you like pirates?” She asked.

“They’re alright, I guess.” He fiddled with the hem of his shirt, glancing around at her hive. That is a LOT of spiderwebs. “I like horses. And robots.”

“Alright? Pirates are the best, my ancestor was a pirate!” Vriska talked as she worked on pulling out a piece of paper for her neighbor.

“How do you know your ancestor?”

“I just do! It’s like… a gut feeling, I guess. Now come on, if we’re gonna be pirates together we gotta make our fleet, we can even have some robot crew members if you want.” She held a clean brush out to Equius. The boy gingerly took it from her, trying as hard as he could not to snap the wooden brush in half. It only cracked a little. 

“What if… We had a robot ship instead?” He suggested, letting an unsure smile creep up on his face. “It could shoot lasers.”

“Ooooooooh, lasers, that’s a good idea! Draw that!” Vriska slapped a piece of paper in front of him. “I’m gonna draw our pirate flag. Every killer ship, robot or not, needs a killer pirate flag.” 

* * *

The two children sat on the floor painting an entire adventure together, talking robot pirate ships with lasers, extravagant costume designs, magical hoofbeasts, evil troll-eating monsters, and buried riches just waiting to be found. Hours passed and the floor was littered with paints, paper, and brushes. 

“Oh, oh, oh, and the big point at the front of the ship could be a super doomsday laser! That can just destroy EVERYTHING in its path!” Vriska chattered on as Equius slathered on more paint onto their ship, The Blue Menace, the most fearsome vessel to ever not exist.

Suddenly, Vriska became uncharacteristically quiet, head snapping in the direction of the stairway across the room. Equius could hear a faint chittering. Was that her lusus? Whatever her lusus was telling her, telepathically he assumed, it made her visibly upset. 

“My lusus says you gotta leave now.” Vriska mumbled. She seemed upset, but wasn’t letting any of it come to light. Equius felt a pang of… sadness for her.

“Oh, um.” Equius set the brush down, his smile gone. “I could help you clean?”

“No, no, I got it, you just go home to your lusus, you’ve been gone for a long time anyway.” 

The two slowly rose, Vriska starting on cleaning, Equius standing there, playing with the hem of his shirt. A nervous habit.

“I’ll come back tomorrow?” He offers. Vriska’s eyes shot up at him, her surprised look slowly turning into a lopsided, mischievous grin. 

“Dark and early, Firstmate Zahhak.” 

Equius smiles back, giggling. 

“Of course, Captain Serket.”

Moments later, after a brief goodbye to his new friend and another trek across the rickety bridge above the canyon, Equius stands at the entrance to his hive. He stares down into the canyon, down at the giant spider crawling along the bottom, spinning a massive series of webs. The spider stops, then turns and stares back at the boy with its many, many eyes. Unblinking and... hungry.

He didn’t like that spider at all. His stomach churned and he felt sick looking at it, that monstrous arachnid with teeth that could tear him to shreds. 

The boy shudders, and quickly runs inside, forgetting all about Vriska’s scary lusus. Excitement replaces his fear as he tells Aurthour all about his fun new neighbor over dinner. 

Vriska shudders too, trying as she might to block out the harsh words and hungry comments her lusus whispers into her mind. The little girl tosses the paint and papers into a corner of her respiteblock to be retrieved at a later date, then turns to her window, staring down at her lusus. She stares back up at her. 

_I don’t care what you say or do to me, just please…….. don’t eat my friend. He’s nice to me. I like him._

Her lusus whispers nothing, just stares for another moment before turning around and tearing into a meowbeast lusus that had the misfortune of wandering into her web earlier. 

Vriska assumes this is an agreement.

* * *

Every few days for the next half-sweep, Equius and Vriska would spend their nights at each other’s hives, playing together.

The two would build worlds together, Vriska using her mind to breathe life into any story she could think of, and Equius would provide and take ideas and make visuals as she talked. He even made her a miniature model of The Blue Menace that fired small darts, which she absolutely adored. They had a good system working between the two of them, a grand mythos formed from the fantastical imagination of children.

Equius sips his milk through a straw, careful not to touch the glass, lest it shatter. 

“Are you sure you don’t want some?” He asks.

Vriska opens her mouth to affirm her disinterest in the drink, but when her stomach growls audibly, it’s hard to ignore. 

“I wouldn’t mind some food, I guess.” She admits. Equius smiles.

“Okay, I’ll tell Aurthour to make us some lunch.” The boy hops off the stool, leaving behind a hand shaped dent on the workbench that he doesn’t even notice, running off to get his lusus. Vriska gathers up their toys and drawings and chases after him.

After a few winding hallways, the young trolls make it to the nutrition block, setting up all of their things at the table. 

“Your lusus… serves you?”

“Yes, he does. Aruthour is a nice lusus, and the best butler ever.”

“Huh.” Vriska returns to working on her drawing. A giant dead monster defeated at the claws of Vriska Serket, Queen of the Pir8s.

“...Vriska?” She looks up from her drawing to the boy across the table. “I know, you’re lusus isn’t very kind to you. She seems really scary, at least. I’m sorry you have to… go through that. I hope my company is alright.” 

An awkward silence starts to settle over the two as they continue to stare at one another. Thankful that her hair is covering half of her eyes, tearing up at his sentiment, she does the only thing she can think of to do. She flicks Equius on the nose and laughs.

“Yeah, Spidermom’s real pushy, but it’s okay! I’m a super tough girl, and you’re like, the best company, even if you’re the biggest doofus on the planet.” 

Equius rubs his nose and laughs, the awkward air dissipates. Aurthour enters shortly after, gives a quick bow, puts on an apron and begins to cook the wrigglers a meal.

Vriska was just glad she wouldn’t have to order takeout for dinner again tonight.

Equius really liked Vriska, his first real friend, she was excitable and fun to be around, never failing or afraid to loudly drag him out of his introverted shell to meet new trolls. Even though they rarely ever touched on the subject of their lives, he felt a connection to her that he really couldn’t explain. 

Vriska was fond of Equius, he didn’t insult her or treat her like her lusus treated her. Sure, he could be a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, but he wasn’t a buzzkill. He was a fun sounding board, brainstorming buddy, robo-creative genius, he always had ideas for things, and she took to him like a moth to a flame. 

A couple of true 8100 friends.

* * *

**~~ arachnidsGrip began trolling centaursTesticle at 00:48 ~~**

**AG:** Equius!!!!!!!!

 **AG:** Tell your lusus I’m coming over, I have the discovery of the CENTURY!!!!!!!!

 **CT:** D—> What is it

 **AG:** Did you see that m8r that crashed a couple hours ago?

 **CT:** D—> The mater

 **CT:** D—> That one doesn’t make sense

 **CT:** D—> Regardless

 **CT:** D—> You mean the meteor, yes

 **AG:** Yes, of course I mean the meteor! D8n’t 8e rude!

 **CT:** D—> Sorry

 **AG:** I forgive you, dummy. :::;P

 **AG:** 8ut yeah, the meteor, did you actually see it?

 **CT:** D—> No, but I herd it, it was very loud

 **AG:** Fuck yeah, it was!!!!!!!!

 **CT:** D—> Language

 **AG:** Anyway, o8viously my first instinct was to run to where it landed and check it out.

 **CT:** D—> Obviously

 **AG:** Hush! >:::\

 **AG:** The meteor was actually a chest, and it had my sign on it.

 **AG:** So, I cr8cked that 8ad 8oy open and you won’t 8elieve what I found!

 **AG:** My ancestor’s 8elongings!!!!!!!!

 **AG:** Remem8er when we were wrigglers and I told you how I just…….. kind of KNEW my ancestor was a pir8? That gut feeling?

 **CT:** D—> Yes, that was the day we met

 **AG:** Haha, softie.

 **CT:** D—> Hush

 **AG:** Yeah, anyway, well I was fucking R8GHT!

 **AG:** Inside was a journal det8ling all of her high-seas escap8des, it’s really fascin8ing.

 **AG:** I actually think our ancestors m8ght have known each other! She descri8es this moody, indigo8lood hermit that reminds me a lot of you, at least.

 **CT:** D—> That is very interesting

 **CT:** D—> You said the journal and chest had your sign

 **AG:** Yep! The chest had all sorts of other stuff crammed in there, and now I’m lugging it 8ack home.

 **AG:** Actually……..

 **AG:** Hey, unlock your door, I just decided I’m coming over. I really wanna show you what I found!!!!!!!!

 **CT:** D—> Oh

 **CT:** D—> Alright

 **AG:** Seeya in a minute, neigh8or. ::::)

**~~ arachnidsGrip began trolling centaursTesticle at 01:08 ~~**

Equius wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his arm, which didn’t really solve anything. He’s 4-and-a-half sweeps old now, his lifelong sweating problem has been getting worse, and for the life of him he can’t figure out why. He hopes it isn’t some kind of mutation. Mutations are deadly offenses. At least that’s what the Empire says (forever live the great Empress, Her Imperious Condescension, glory and gore to the Empire, yadda yadda yadda). He doesn’t want to die over something like this… It doesn’t matter, he thinks, just a natural biological process he unfortunately produces in excess. Quickly, he wipes the sweat off his forehead with a towel, wanting to not look like a mess when his guest gets here. 

_KNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCK!!!!!!!!_

Well, speak of the drones. The boy got up, answering the door himself as he knew Aurthour was busy cleaning one of the many rooms of the hive.

“Vriska-“

“Look at THIS!” She shoves a book directly into Equius’ face. Sure enough, emblazoned on the front of the ancient, leather bound tome is Vriska’s caste sign.

“You really weren't kidding, wow. What was she like?” He asks as he lowers the book from his face. She had a palpable wonder in her eyes as she launched into the story, rapidly flipping through the pages and talking about a mile a minute. 

Equius wasn’t really paying attention - something about a legislacerator and pirate wars and dangerous political rebellions - too enraptured by her expressions to fully tune in. Gosh, she was cute.

Wait, what? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. What an absolutely preposterous thing to think, Equius, you stupid idiot. 

Aurthour had told him about quadrants merely a perigee ago, and the boy was painfully aware that Vriska made the pale chamber of his bloodpusher beat twice as hard.

  
He knew how hard she had it, getting into screeching matches with her lusus - both verbal and mental - and all the destructive, tearful, and raging tantrums she threw, ones he could hear from his side of the canyon on what should be a quiet night. Part of him wanted to hold her in those times, to be there for her, perhaps. He wasn’t good with feelings though, even though he tried his best. He knew he’d only end up accidentally hurting her, physically or emotionally. 

Besides! Quadrants are stupid and a waste of time for a busy future archeradicator such as himself! So he had no intention of ever asking her to be his diamond. At least that’s what he told himself to keep his cool.

It was at the mention of this “moody hermit” that he tuned back in.

“So, this guy hooks her up with this WICKED prosthetic arm, and she leaves him her greatest treasure, cause he like, never leaves his hive plus he’s this big strong dude, so it should be safe with him, right? Apparently it was a magic cue ball that could predict things with really alarming accuracy, like a magic 8ball but totally legitimate!!” 

“Oh, I have a magic cue ball.” He blurts out.

Vriska’s arms and jaw collectively drop as she stares at the boy. The silence stretches on, neither saying a word. Equius’ eyes dart around before returning to Vriska’s fixed stare. 

“What?”

“UM? BULLSHIT?!” She shouts. “YOU have a magic, fortune telling cue ball that belonged to MY ancestor, and you never thought to tell me?” 

“I found it buried in a cave while I was walking through the canyon last month! I didn’t know what it was capable of, and I didn’t think you’d be at all interested in a magic device with no viewports.”

“Show it to me, Equius.” Equius sighs, flapping his lips as he does so, making him sound like a horse. Vriska snickers and pokes him. “C’moooooooon, where is it?” 

The boy turns wordlessly and she follows him through his hive. They end up at a large storage room. He opens the door for her, pushing it hard enough for it to open all the way and hit the inside wall.

“In here.”

It’s dark and cramped, various knick knacks clutter the many shelves. Almost immediately Vriska finds the cue ball, glimmering in the dim light of the hallway. Her face lights up as she darts inside to grab it. She ignores the tempting prospect of snooping around her friend’s things, focused only on the cue ball.

“It’s actually fucking real, I can’t believe this.” She turns the globe around in her clawed hands. Vriska closes her eyes and shakes the ball, thinking of a specific question. When she opens her eyes, they blow open wide in surprise. Equius leans up close to her to try and see what she’s looking at, but again, no viewports are on the cue balls surface. 

“Can you actually see what it’s saying?” He asks. 

“Yeah, using my vision 8fold.” She replies, shaking it again for another answer. 

The two stand there for a minute, observing the pretty ball, Vriska shaking it every couple minutes and telling Equius the results she gets. ‘How old am I?’ ‘What’s my name?’ ‘What’s my ancestor’s hatchname?’ ‘Where did you come from?’ and many more.

“Thanks for letting me have this, Equius.”

“I never said that, but since it’s essentially useless to me, it might as well be yours.”

Vriska laughs, pocketing the cue ball and the journal into her sylladex. All of a sudden her palmhusk beeps, and she pulls it out.

“Anyway, thanks again for the ball. Sorry to cut this hangout session short, Equius. I just started this new FLARP session with some friends, and - “ Suddenly, Vriska’s face lights up, right eyes wide with hope. “Hey! You should play with us! I can help you build your character and everything!” 

The boy's pusher skipped a beat as he stood there, silent and sweating. What should he say? He isn’t very good at games involving luck. He’s never FLARPed before and it’s a dangerous game, fatal, just like in the name itself. Vriska began to tap her foot as she waited for an answer. Sweet Sufferer, just SAY something Zahhak.

“Yes, yes, I’ll- I will, play, with you.” 

He barely manages to get the words out with his stuttering, nervous voice. Vriska’s impatience turns to unfettered joy as she jumps and shouts. 

“FUCK YES! FLARP is so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so much fun, you won’t regret it. Make a costume! You HAVE to show up in some kind of costume! It doesn’t have to be fancy, just throw something together, and meet me by the coast in like an hour!” She beams as she starts walking backwards in the direction of the door.

A quick goodbye and a door slam later, she was gone. Equius quickly got to work on his costume, an old uniform from when he tried out for a junior stickball team, which he then painted his sign on the chest and shoulder pads. Combined with the helmet now sporting a fresh coat of blue paint, he looked pretty cool, in his opinion. He carefully grabs his bow and a couple arrows, only accidentally snapping the head off one, before heading out.

* * *

An hour later Equius stands on a rickety old dock, staring up at a just-as-rickety ship. It was certainly an intimidating size, a floating fortress in a way, showing scars from a handful of previous FLARP sessions. Painted on the side of the ship in bright orange paint is the name; THE 8LUE MENACE. That immediately brings a smile to the boy's face.

“Hey!!!!!!!! Equius, glad you could make it!”

Vriska comes strolling up the dock with three other people, one of whom Equius recognizes, two of whom he doesn’t.

“Equius, these are my friends, you know Terezi,” The girl in the homemade red and teal suit waves a polite hello, “You haven’t met these two, they’re Aradia and Tavros.” The pretty girl - Aradia, Equius presumes - waves cheerfully. Her outfit seems to be modeled after the Troll Indiana Jones movies. Whereas the boy, Tavros, gives a nervous smile and barely-there hello. His is clearly modeled after Pupa Pan. They’re both rustbloods, right? That’s what the signs on their shirts say.

“Hello.” Equius returns the greetings, suddenly feeling nervous. The boy briefly thinks he should’ve brought something to obscure his eyes while Vriska describes him as her ‘neighbor that’s sometimes cool’ to her friends. 

“Alright! It’s us against Ampora, you guys ready?” Vriska produces a set of dice from her strife specibus, tossing them around in her hand to hear them clatter together. The other three trolls also produce dice of varying shapes and colors, and Equius quickly realizes he forgot to bring some. 

“I don’t have any-“

“Oh, uh, I have an extra set, if you want it?” Tavros interrupts, pulling another dice bag from his sylladex, it’s purple with a red and yellow swirl on it. “Sorry, they’re Fiduspawn themed…” Equius hums a thank you. Vriska quickly moves them along, and pulls out a set of sheets, thrusting them into Equius’ free hand. 

“Okay, I know I said I was going to help you out here, but I have way too much stuff to prepare for tonight’s FLARP session - irons in the fire, you could say - so you’re gonna have to do it on your own, just fill it out with whatever so long as it’s not super overpowered, you should be good!”

The boy looks down at the papers, filled to the brim with information. Something about statbats and such? He flips through them until he finds a page of various classes. Boy Skylark, Ballerina of the Battlefield, Comely Sonofabitch, Dapper Damager, man, all of them sound stupid. 

That is until the word “Equine” catches the boy's eye. Equine Linebacker, huh? Equius likes the sound of that, and he cracks a small smile as he writes down the class as his own, afterwards allotting his remaining characteristics to places he feels would benefit him best. Yeah, this should work. 

Moments later, Vriska returns with a different boy. One with a cape and glasses and gills. 

“Equius, this is Eridan Ampora, he’s the guy we’re gonna be FLARPing against tonight.” 

“You mean losin’ against?” 

“Oh, can it, fish breath. You had to HIRE your new crew ‘cause no one from the last session survived, except you!”

“That’s ‘cause you got 3 perfect fuckin’ rolls in a roww, I SWWEAR you’vve got loaded dice, you despicable lowwblood cheat.” Eridan grits his teeth in anger.

Equius cocks an eyebrow at the other boy's accent, that’s something he’s never heard before. The way he holds himself makes it look like he’s got some kind of superiority complex, and his tone and vocabulary back it up. Vriska is absolutely appalled by Eridan’s accusation, and jabs a clawed finger into his shoulder. 

“Fuck you, I have NEVER cheated!!!!!!!! I keep telling you, I’m just that damn lucky!” She says this with a tonal finality, refusing to further debate her status as a legitimate gamer. Eridan overdramatically rolls his eyes, a grimace plastered on his face.

“Fine, wwhatevver, lie all you wwant, wwhatevver makes you sleep at day.” The seadweller boy then turns his attention back to Equius. “Hey, swweaty guy. Wwhat’s your class?” 

“Equine Linebacker.” Equius states, holding up the papers. Vriska laughs, muttering ‘Of course’ under her breath as she grabs them from the boy’s gloved hands. She brings them up to her face, reviewing his stats and placements.

“Seems good to go, you ready?” The boys nod in return. Vriska cracks a sly grin as she rolls the stat sheets up and deposits them in her sylladex. “Awesome.”

* * *

A game is afoot.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!” Vriska screamlaughs. “Nat 20! Suck on that, fin-face! My crew boards your ship without a hitch, AND we get the advantage of first attacking roll!”

At Vriska’s - No, Mindfang, as she suddenly insisted to be called at the beginning of the session - At Mindfang’s command, Aradia, Tavros, Terezi, and Equius board Eridan’s ship by swinging across the gap. Mindfang herself is last to come aboard, brandishing her dice as she crosses the dark oak boards of the ship.

Eridan is floundering.

Eridan commands his gang of hired help into fighting position, they’re dressed simply compared to the seadweller’s elaborate costume. Statbats flutter above every player, displaying various stats and meters.

Everything is quiet for a beat, the only sound being the beating wings of the Statbats and the crashing of waves against the hull of the ship. Vriska and Eridan simultaneously both roll their dice, and the fight begins.

Each player matches up against an enemy, Vriska begins sword fighting Eridan, the two occasionally stopping to roll more dice. Terezi and Aradia both fight members of Eridan’s crew, Tavros however seems to have struck up a friendly conversation with his enemy, having noticed the Fiduspawn button they were wearing.

Equius, as the strongest, is tasked with fighting the biggest member of Eridan’s crew, and the only one who wasn’t a rustblood. 

A big, shirtless clown in baggy pants held up by suspenders stands menacingly before the smaller boy, brandishing a spiked club. However it seems the spikes are covered in multicolored foam balls, like someone close to the clown had seen this huge weapon he was carrying and said ‘No, no, no, you’re not going to kill anyone today’. His swirling sign is painted on his chest in purple paint, and he wears a belt of soda around his waist.

“You gonna roll to see how much of an ass whooping you’re gonna get, you little blueblood bitch?” The clown’s face splits into a horrifying, taunting smile as he speaks in a classical clownish lilt. 

Well. Shoot.

Equius swallows thickly before retrieving his borrowed dice, dumping them out of the bag and onto the ground, counting as his roll. The clown rolls his own set of rainbow colored dice; the action bar is set at 14.

Equius rolls a 12. 

The clown rolls an 18.

“Vibe check.”

The clown laughs and lifts his bat. With incredible strength he brings it down. Unable to get out of the way, the bat hits Equius square upside the head, knocking him to the ground in a flash. It’s quickly followed by another (illegal) hit, and another, and another, and another. Somewhere in the midst of all these hits there’s a loud cracking noise, but the smaller boy can’t register it over the sound of angry shouting, and the impacts hitting his body.

“DAMMIT, YOU FUCKING CLOWN, GET OFF!!!!!!!!” 

The beating only stops when the clown gets repeatedly whipped, cut, and stabbed by Equius’ furious teammates. They drag the clown away either to subdue or kill him, while Tavros steps in to help Equius to his feet. Immediately the troll begins to stutter out words of concern and apology, in his own weird turn of phrase. Equius merely leans up against the railing of the ship and lets the troll go on with his rambling. 

The boy is far too focused on trying not to tremble, trying not to be seen as weak for getting beaten up so easily, for not merely dodging for fighting back. Would he have actually fought back? He’d never been in a fight before. Never been at the mercy of another so violent.

“Oh, god, that looks really, really bad, uhm, I think my lusus gave me a medical kit, hold on,” Tavros pulls a small red bag from his sylladex. “Do you, uh, need help or anything, maybe? With your injuries? I can help with your bleeding, maybe, but I’m not sure what to do about the horn…?”

“I beg your pardon?” Equius looks up, lower lip quivering despite his even tone. Tavros frowns nervously, eyebrows knitted together. He points to his own left horn. 

“He hit you kinda, well actually really hard, he hit you really hard, and I guess the force of the uh, impact, um, broke it…” He smiles, an attempt to be reassuring. “But hey, you’re alive, at least, th-that’s good, right?”

Equius’ hand shoots up to his head, and sure enough, his left horn is entirely gone. Snapped in half like a gobblebeast’s wish fulfillment bone, nothing but jagged edges. His resolve hanging by a thread, he immediately begins looking on the deck of the ship for his missing horn.

“Don’t bother,” Terezi walks up to the two, sheathing her purple stained sword. “I saw it go flying over the side of the ship. It’s probably halfway to the bottom of the ocean by now.” She goes to give him a friendly pat, but he jerks away, growling. “I’m sorry, Equius.” 

Equius visibly trembles as he plops down onto the ground, hand covering his mangled horn stump. No one says anything, they just… Let him process. In a moment, Vriska comes jogging over, visibly concerned and upset before quickly composing herself.

“C’mon, big guy.” The girl grabs Equius by the underarm and helps him up. “You’re okay. Eridan forfeited meaning we won, so we’re going back now- Holy shit, did that asshole break your horn?” She almost touches his head, but jerks her hand away when he looks at her. 

“Yes. I’m fine.” The boy straightens his posture. He repeats the phrase in his head a few times, hoping he’ll actually start to believe it.

30 minutes later, the ship is docked and Equius is the first to storm off the ship. He wants to go home as fast as he can, he thinks he should’ve never agreed to this game, should’ve just stayed home and not gotten beaten up like a helpless weakling. Vriska chases after him.

“Equius- fucking- wait up, dumbass, stop running away!”

The boy stops in his tracks and turns to face her. The ship and pier is now a thumbtack on the horizon, the two young trolls standing atop the crest of a hill just before the forest.

“What?” He asks.

“What, what do you mean, ‘what?’ I can’t check up on my best friend after he has a near death experience and loses a horn, which is, last I checked, a pretty significant event? I can’t show concern for someone?”

“Why are you concerned about me? I told you; I’m fine.”

“No, you’re obviously not fine! You haven’t stopped shaking this entire time!” 

Equius moves to leave into the forest, stopped only by Vriska grabbing his arm and jerking him back.

“Would you stop being stubborn and _talk_ to me?!?!?!?!”

“That’s rich, coming from you, you never want to talk to me about what’s wrong, even when I know you’re suffering, you’re more stubborn than anyone else on this planet.” They’re silent for a moment after he says that. Immediately, Equius feels guilty for what he’s said, he opens and closes his mouth, trying to come up with an apology. Vriska fumes, clenching her hand around the boy’s wrist, before slowly unclenching, and letting go. Equius doesn’t let her, and instead gently grabs her arm. “I’m sorry, Vriska, that was extremely rude of me and I was out of line. Please, forgive me.”

Vriska stands silent for a moment, not looking at him. She rubs at her nose, sniffing before looking back up at him. Part of Equius wants to pull her in for a hug, the smarter part of him tells him he can’t, for multiple reasons. 

“It’s okay.”

Followed by more silence. Equius looks down at his feet, playing with the hem of costume again. Vriska sighs, stepping forward and pulling the boy into an apology hug. He jumps slightly in surprise, before cautiously settling into the embrace. He wraps his arms around her, his hands ghosting over her, afraid to touch her, to crush her in this emotional state he's in. More silence.

“I shouldn't have come here.”

“Why?”

“I was… afraid. I am afraid. To fight. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“That’s not how Alternia works, Equius.” At this, she pulls away a little to look at him. “You have to fight and kill if you want to survive. Why the hell do boys hate fighting so much?” She asks that question to herself. 

Equius doesn’t answer, merely looks at her.

“I could likely teach myself how to fight.”

“How?”

“Robots.”

“That’s your answer to everything isn’t it?”

“For most situations, yes, though I wish I could have a robot deal with these difficult conversations instead of me.”

Vriska laughs. “I’m glad you’re alive, even if you’re a bit of an asshole.” She completely pulls away from the hug, and nudges him with her elbow, returning to a more natural posture. “Don’t go getting yourself killed by a stupid clown because you refuse to fight. Promise?” 

Equius smiles. “I won’t, I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr as @4reekie !


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